Some nights you remember for the applause. This one I'll remember for everything around it — the history in the room, the hands I shook, and the moment our designs walked out under the lights in Barbados.
This November, TruFaceByGrace traveled to Barbados for the GUBA Awards 2025 — and it was unlike anything we've been part of before. For the first time in its history, the GUBA Awards were hosted in the Caribbean, under the theme "Reclaiming Our Atlantic Destiny: Build. Connect. Renew." It was a celebration of the bonds between Africa and the Caribbean, four centuries in the making.
A truly historic moment
The weight of the evening was impossible to miss. The room held leaders, honorees, and cultural icons from across the diaspora — and among the guests was His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene of Ghana, who had arrived in Barbados on the first-ever private charter flight connecting Accra to Bridgetown.
As a Ghanaian-born designer, having the honor of meeting His Majesty and shaking his hand is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. To stand in that room, representing Ghanaian craft and culture on an international stage, and to be acknowledged in his presence — there are no words big enough. It was a full-circle moment for me and for everything TruFaceByGrace was built to celebrate.
The runway
Then came our showcase. We brought TruFaceByGrace to the stage with a fashion presentation that fused traditional African materials with contemporary design — bold statement pieces, handcrafted detail, and silhouettes built to command attention. Our models walked in everything from kente-inspired tailoring to sculptural jewelry and showstopping gold.
The response from the audience meant everything. As Nation News put it the next morning, the show "drew many excited gasps from the audience." That's exactly what we design for — pieces that make a room turn.
On the cover
The morning after, I opened the Weekend Buzz from Barbados' Nation News to find one of our designs on the cover, under the headline "Night of Glitz, Glamour," with a two-page editorial spread inside titled "Fashion Wows Crowd." Seeing our work celebrated like that, in print, in another country — it's the kind of thing you don't quite believe until you're holding it.
The showcase was also covered by TIME, which described our work as part of a growing moment for African fashion on the world stage. To be part of that conversation — about culture, about craft, about the real economic power of African design — is exactly where TruFaceByGrace is meant to be.
Why this matters
TruFaceByGrace has always been about more than beautiful objects. It's about celebrating heritage, empowering the artisans and women behind every piece, and proving that culturally rooted design belongs on the biggest stages in the world. Barbados reminded me why we do this.
To everyone who has supported this journey — thank you. The best is still ahead.
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Photography from the GUBA Awards by Reco Moore.
